


Roses and Snowdrops

by authorwithoutaquill



Series: Timepetalsprompts drabbles [3]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Angst, Drabble, F/M, Introspection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-12
Updated: 2015-12-12
Packaged: 2018-05-06 06:34:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5406683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/authorwithoutaquill/pseuds/authorwithoutaquill
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Doctor comes back, but not the way Rose expected him to.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Roses and Snowdrops

**Author's Note:**

> For timepetalsprompts weekly drabble theme: Shiver. This is a sequel to Frozen Heart. The first part of the story is Can't Do It.

Shivering. She was shivering. Her whole body was a bundle of nerves, of interconnected sharp little pains and warm, blinding explosions at the back of her brain. The Tardis was already there - fully materialized, on the street corner, behind the bins and out of sight. The door was closed though.

She had been worried; still was worried about how she was going to face the Doctor when - no, if - they were to see each other again. And now, standing there in the cold, breaths coming out in pale little puffs, feet dancing nervously in the snow, she realized she had no words.

No words to tell him sorry, none to beg him to take her back into his time machine, not one to express how much he meant to her. She tried to force thoughts into her brain, tried to focus, but the door creaked open and her heart was bursting with anticipation, joy and anxiety, and she had time no more.

His face appeared first, his limbs and torso following in a disjointed tumble after. He all but fell out of the Tardis, surprise evident on his features when he saw her. How long has it been for him? How long was he gone? A week for her - an excruciating, numb and cold 7 days in her mother’s flat. But how long for him?

Before she could ask, before she could even open her mouth, he called out sharply, “Rose?!” He strode towards her, forceful steps that made the snow wail under his boots. “What are you doing here?”

The tears came unbidden, flowing down her face in cascades, silent sobs shaking her whole frame. He didn’t come to her. He shoved his hands in his pockets instead and looked down awkwardly, glancing up every now and then, tentative little peaks that made Rose cry harder. When she was finally able to speak, all she asked in a small voice was, “You didn’t come for me.” She said it like a statement, but in reality it was a question she was desperately hoping the Doctor would answer. She didn’t look at him.

If she had she could have seen the tortured glimmer in his eyes, the tears that threatened to overflow them, the love that shined out. But she didn’t look up.

“No,” it was all she could hear, and the numbness returned. She barely registered the rest. “There has been unusual readings coming from 21st century London, so I came back to investigate. I did not mean to run into you. I chose the street at random, really.” He stumbled on the last words and wondered just how clumsy he could still be around Rose, but didn’t continue.

She was standing there, looking at the ground and it was breaking his hearts to see her like that. He wanted to go to her, wrap her in his arms, but he’d forgotten how. He’d forgotten the moment the “never again” left her mouth. It hurt him, yes. But it was nothing compared to the realization that he’d hurt Rose. He swore never to do that again, and if dropping her off was the price to pay, he wouldn’t be in debt any longer.

As it turned out he wasn’t so good on the not hurting her part. She was clearly upset - no, more than upset - she seemed broken. Maybe she would be happier with him, but how could he take her when he couldn’t promise to keep safe? To keep her well? He didn’t do domestics. And he didn’t know how else to ease the pain of their misadventures. He sighed and shook his head. In for a penny, in for a pound.

“I don’t know… Maybe… you could help me?”

Rose’s head whipped up and she cringed as the pain in her neck returned. She studies his face for a bit - it was the same guarded, carefully hopeful, anticipating a negative answer nonetheless expression she saw on him when he first invited her to travel with him. He wasn’t asking her to come back though, was he? Maybe he was saying goodbye? Taking her on one last adventure before they parted forever?

Rose didn’t know and was too scared to consider. In her current state, she couldn’t bring herself to care much either. She nodded and brushed her tears away, swinging her hands shyly and finally giving the Doctor one of her tongue-between-teeth smiles.

“Yeah, okay. Let’s go.”


End file.
